This invention relates to a disposable wearing article adapted to absorb and hold excretion discharged thereon.
Conventional disposable wearing articles comprise a liquid-pervious topsheet lying on body side, a liquid-impervious backsheet lying on side opposed to body side, a liquid-absorbent core disposed between these top- and backsheets and a pair of side flaps extending in a longitudinal direction of the article outside transversely opposite side edges of the core. Such article of open-type is described in Japanese Patent Application Publications Nos. 1999-299824A and 1999-299832A and such article of pants-type is described in Japanese Patent Application Publications Nos. 1999-104177A and 1999-155904A.
Each of these conventional wearing articles is composed, in the longitudinal direction of the article, of a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch region extending between these two waist regions wherein a transverse dimension of the core in the crotch region is smaller than that of the core in the front and rear trunk regions so that the core presents an hourglass-like shape in its plan view.
It is well known that, if the transverse dimension of the core in the crotch region is larger than a transverse dimension of a wearer""s crotch region, the core will be out of conformity with the wearer""s crotch region as the article is put on the wearer""s body and the wearer will experience a feeling of incompatibility. To achieve a desired conformity of the core with the wearer""s crotch region, the dimension of the core may be adjusted to be equal to or smaller than the dimension of the wearer""s crotch region. However, both the wearing articles disclosed in the above-identified Publications are disadvantageous in that an absorption capacity of the core for excretion in the crotch region is deteriorated and a possibility of excretion leak from the crotch region increases as the dimension of the core is reduced.
In most of the wearing articles commercially available, the core is usually dimensioned in the transverse direction to be in a range of 100-200 mm in the crotch region in order to avoid leak of excretion from the crotch region. However, the dimension in such order may often be larger than the dimension of the wearer""s crotch region and make it impossible to place the core against the wearer""s crotch region with a good conformity.
It is an object of this invention to provide a disposable wearing article allowing the core lying in the article""s crotch region to be placed against the wearer""s crotch region with the desired conformity without an anxiety that excretion might leak from the crotch region.
According to this invention, there is provided a disposable wearing article comprising a liquid-pervious topsheet lying on body side, a liquid-impervious backsheet lying not on body side, a liquid-absorbent first core dimensioned larger in a longitudinal direction of the article disposed between the top- and backsheets and a pair of side flaps lying outside transversely opposite edges of the first core and extending in the longitudinal direction so as to configure, in the longitudinal direction, a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch region extending between the two waist regions.
According to this invention the side flaps are provided with a pair of second liquid-absorbent cores, each dimensioned to be larger in the longitudinal direction, spaced apart from the respective side edges of the first core outward in the transverse direction by a predetermined dimension, the side edges of the first core extending in the crotch region curve inward in the transverse direction of the article substantially in circular arcs while respective inner side edges of the second cores opposed to the side edges of the first core, respectively, curve outward in the transverse direction of the garment substantially in circular arcs, and in the crotch region, the second cores are drawn toward the first core and the first and second cores are bonded together in the vicinity of the respective side edges of the first core and the respective inner side edges of the second cores so that the side flaps obliquely extend downward from the respective side edges of the first core.
According to one embodiment of this invention, the side flaps are provided with a pair of substantially liquid-impervious leak-barrier cuffs extending in the longitudinal direction of the article and having proximal side edge portions extending along the side edges of the side flaps in the crotch region, free side edge portions being contiguous to the proximal side edge portions and normally biased to rise on the side flaps and longitudinal opposite fixed end portions collapsed inward in the transverse direction and bonded to the side flaps in the front and rear waist regions in such collapsed state and elastic members being stretchable in the longitudinal direction and attached under tension to the free side edge portions.
According to another embodiment of this invention, the minimum transverse dimension of the first core in the crotch region is in a range of 20-80 mm and the maximum transverse dimension of the second core in the crotch region is in a range of 20-70 mm.
According to still another embodiment of this invention, the second core has a stiffness higher than that of the first core.
According to yet another embodiment of this invention, the side flaps are formed with the liquid-pervious topsheet lying on body side and the liquid-impervious backsheet lying on side opposed to body side and the second cores are disposed between these sheets.